Connect anything

Ways to connect

• A service from the catalogPick it, sign in to it, done.
• Any MCP serverPaste its address. Sign in, add a key, or neither.
• Any APIBuild a connection from its OpenAPI document, or have your AI app build one.
• Your Mac's apps and commandsPair a computer, then add local servers and commands. In private beta.

Your AI app can also start any of these for you. See Ask your AI app to connect it.

A service from the catalog

The catalog lists services Kin has checked, such as GitHub, Notion, Linear, Jira and Confluence, Stripe and Sentry. Some open with no account at all.

1. In Kin, open Connections and select Add a connection.

2. Use Search the directory, or browse by category, and select the service.

3. Sign in to the service in the window that opens, or enter a key if it asks for one.

4. Open the new connection and choose what AI may do, such as Read only or Ask me. See Rules.

Google services such as Gmail, Drive and Calendar are invite-only. Select Request access on one to ask for it.

Any MCP server, by its address

Many services publish an MCP server for AI apps. If it has an https:// address, Kin can connect it, whether or not it is in the catalog.

1. Open Add a connection and select Paste an address.

2. Enter the server's address under Address.

3. Select Continue to sign in or Connect. Kin finds out what the server needs. If it supports sign-in, a window opens for you to sign in. Some servers need nothing at all.

4. Open the new connection and choose what AI may do.

Open Advanced when the server needs something else:

• A key. Under How does this tool know it is you?, choose It uses an API key or token. Enter the Header name and the key, or choose Send it as a bearer token.
• Your own sign-in app. If the service needs a client ID and secret you registered with it, choose Sign in with your own app and enter them.
• An older server. For a server that uses SSE, choose Older tools (SSE) under Connection type.

A server you add stays private. To suggest it for Kin's directory, clear Keep this private. Who added it is never shown.

Any API

For a service with no MCP server, build a connection from its API. Kin turns each API operation into an action, and nothing connects until you review it and enter the key yourself. Building a connection from an API is on plans that include it.

From its OpenAPI document

1. Open Add a connection and select Have an agent build it. The Build a connection page opens.

2. Enter the service's name under Which service?.

3. Under Read its API description, paste the address of the service's OpenAPI or Swagger document and select Read it, or select Upload the file. Services often list it in their developer docs as openapi.json.

4. On the review page, check What AI apps may do and Where calls go.

5. Under Your key, enter the service's key and any text that goes before it, such as Bearer. Name the connection, then select Approve and connect.

Kin reads OpenAPI and Swagger documents written in JSON, up to 100 operations a connection. It sends the key in one request header, with whatever name and prefix the API uses, such as Authorization: Bearer or X-Api-Key.

Have your AI app build it

When the service has no OpenAPI document, or uses GraphQL, your AI app can read the service's docs and propose the connection for you. It never sees your key.

1. Ask your AI app, for example: "Build a Kin connection for the Acme API from its docs."

2. The app proposes the connection, and Kin gives you a link to review it, with every operation the app wrote.

3. Check it, enter the key under Your key, and select Approve and connect.

Your Mac's apps and commands

Kin pairs your Mac with your account, so AI apps can use what runs on it, under the same rules. Pairing a computer is in a private beta, on plans that include it. If your workspace is not in it yet, Kin shows Request access. Once your Mac is paired, you can:

• Add local MCP servers in Kin on your Mac, such as a browser, files in a folder or a command you choose, or import the servers you already set up in Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex or VS Code.
• Turn your own command-line tools into named actions, under Custom tools.
• Let AI apps use Mac actions, such as notifications, Shortcuts, the clipboard and screenshots, and run a command in a folder after you approve it.

A new local server waits on hold until you select Allow on it in Kin. Actions that reach your screen, camera, clipboard or files start at Ask me, and running a command on your Mac always asks you first. The Kin bridge brings the same to Linux and Windows. See Kin apps.

Ask your AI app to connect it

You can stay in your AI app. Ask it to connect what it needs, such as "connect my Notion to Kin" or "connect the MCP server at https://mcp.example.com". The app asks Kin, and the request waits in Tasks, under Connections to approve, with a link the app can give you. Select Approve and connect, sign in, and the app carries on.

An AI app never connects anything on its own, and it never sees your sign-in or keys.

For AI apps

When nothing connected fits a task, Kin's search says so and suggests what to connect. These Kin actions start a connection, and each one waits for the person to approve:

• kin.find_service looks a service up in the catalog by name.
• kin.connect asks the person to connect a catalog service, or an MCP server by its endpoint.
• kin.propose_api_connection proposes a connection from an OpenAPI document's address, or from a definition the app writes. Call describe on it for the definition format.

Or ask us to add it

If none of these fits, tell us. Open Add a connection, select Have an agent build it, and fill in Or ask us to add it at the bottom of the page. A person reads every request. We cannot promise it will be added, or when.